Imaging devices are frequently used in many aspects of business, industry and academic endeavors. The term “imaging,” as used herein, should be interpreted broadly to include any process for producing a copy of a document onto paper, a computer screen, an electronic image, or the like. Examples of imaging devices include printers, facsimile devices, copiers, scanners, display monitors, multi-function peripherals (MFPs), imagesetters, platesetters, filing devices, web publishing devices, and so forth. Documents that are sent to a printing device for printing are sometimes referred to as “print jobs.”
Printers (one kind of imaging device) are used with computers to print various kinds of items, including letters, documents, pictures, etc. Many different kinds of printers are commercially available. Ink jet printers and laser printers are fairly common among computer users. Ink jet printers propel droplets of ink directly onto the paper. Laser printers use a laser to print. Many imaging devices can generate scanned image data. For example, some imaging devices include scanners which can scan a document to provide scanned image data. It is also possible that an imaging device may be able to read scanned image data from a storage device. There may also be other ways in which an imaging device may be provided with or otherwise obtain scanned image data. Copiers and facsimile devices are also commonly used imaging devices.
One characteristic of imaging devices is the ability to generate the specified image. However, processing, transmitting, and storing image data to create an image can be a time-consuming process and can significantly delay generation of the image. Persons using an imaging device can become frustrated if the processing time is slow. For example, if the first page of an imaged document is delayed, the person who initiated the imaging process may wonder whether the image data has been lost in transit or whether a network over which the image data was transmitted is not functioning properly.
Accordingly, benefits may be realized by improved systems and methods for rapidly generating an image from a document. Some exemplary systems and methods for rapidly generating an image from a document are described herein.